A Charmed Prom
by Zeria
Summary: When a future whitelighter has so little selfconfidence it threatens to lead her away from her destiny, Wyatt enlists his little brother's help in boosting her selfesteem.
1. The Day Before

**Prom**

**Chapter One**

**The Day Before**

Disclaimer: I only own the ones you haven't heard of before.

It was April 22, 2020. For some people this date signified absolutely nothing, with the exception that it was another Friday and the work week was almost over. However, for Molly Vettle this day signified something much bigger: her last chance to find a date to her senior Prom.

She'd had such high hopes at the start. Her best friend Bryan wasn't seeing anyone anymore, so she'd thought for sure that they'd just end up going together as friends. This thought was dashed when Bryan scored a date with one of the cheerleaders, who apparently didn't mind being seen with someone a little too skinny and a little too brainy. Sara Tomson, the aforementioned cheerleader, obviously saw in Bryan what Molly did: a sensitive, intelligent guy, who despite the stick thin frame, was actually quite cute.

In any case, this left Molly without a sure thing. So, she'd tried to think of guys to ask, but no one was really interested in being seen with her, let alone be her date to the senior prom. It wasn't that Molly was so hideously ugly that her face could scare away a pit bull. On the contrary, she had a lovely face with eyes that switched from hazel to green depending on her mood, full coral lips, and a smile that lit up a room. She even had pretty dark black hair that fell just below her shoulders. No, those traits were all great. It was just. . .her weight.

Molly was a bigger girl than most. She'd tried everything to lose the weight, but heaviness just ran in her family. Her mother, her aunts, her grandmother, and pretty much all of her cousins too suffered from being 'big boned'.

It made her uncomfortable. She'd wear oversized, dark clothes to try and hide from the world, so they wouldn't judge her. She wouldn't talk in class or participate in school activities, so no one would realize she was even around. If people didn't know she existed, they wouldn't hurt her like they did in elementary school when they called her blubbery, two ton Molly, or just plain fatso.

Her technique of simply not being seen or heard had worked pretty well so far. Except now, she wanted someone to notice her enough to go to Prom with her. She'd never been to any of the other dances unless it was with Bryan, and he was taken. So, as much as it terrified her, Molly was going to have to ask someone– rejection or no. This was her last dance of her highschool career, and she didn't want to miss it.

There was one person that Molly had liked for as long as she could remember. He had never said mean things to her when they were growing up, and he always smiled at her when he saw her, which was funny because most people didn't even see her. Then of course was the fact that he was gorgeous. Tall, muscular, with trimmed blonde hair and big baby blue eyes that could melt any highschool girl's heart into a big mushy puddle. Wyatt Halliwell was perfect.

So, she figured if she was going to make an idiot out of herself by asking someone it might as well be the person she actually wanted to go with.

He was at his locker talking to one of the other football players. It was right before lunch, so she had plenty of time. She just had to gather up the courage.

"Um. . .Wyatt?"

The young man in question turned to look at her, and smiled politely. "Hi."

"Well, if it isn't little– ahem– _big_ Molly Vettle," the other jock commented. "Didn't you hear the lunch bell? You must be starving, go run and fill your trough– oops, I meant tray."

Wyatt turned a dark look on the man. "Don't talk to her like that. Apologize, Trevor."

"What? Why? I'm only helping her see how disgusting she is. I mean, come on. It's her own fault."

Molly bit her lower lip, looking to the ground. She wouldn't cry. She'd heard the same thing too many times before to let it affect her that much.

The Halliwell boy folded his arms over his chest. "Trevor, stop being a jerk. No one deserves to be talked to like that. And if you don't apologize, you can forget about me helping you out of the dog house with Caitlin."

"Sorry, Molly," Trevor muttered. "I'm a jerk. Just ignore what I said."

Molly's head shot up, and she smiled softly. "Thank you."

"Whatever," Trevor rolled his eyes. "I'm getting food. You comin'?"

"Actually, I'll catch up with you."

Trevor rolled his eyes again before sauntering down the hall toward the cafeteria.

"So, did you need something?" Wyatt asked, his smile for her still there.

"Firstly, I want to thank you. No one's ever stood up for me like that before," she started, a blush slowly creeping onto her cheeks.

Wyatt shrugged, still smiling that immovable smile. "I don't like bullies. And for what it's worth, he's wrong."

"It's worth a lot coming from you," Molly answered, her face turning beet red. She looked away from him, embarrassed. She cleared her throat. "I, uh, was just wondering if you– this is probably ridiculous– but would you maybe, possibly, I don't know, want to go to Prom with me?"

The young man's face fell.

"Oh," the girl said softly. She knew what that face meant. "It's not a big deal. I get it. I mean, it's the day before Prom and you're you, and even if it weren't the day before Prom you would never– "

"– Hey," Wyatt cut her off. He formed a 'T' using his hands. "Hold on just one minute, okay? It's not what I think you think. It's just that Amber Crider asked me a week ago, and I already said I would go with her. If you had asked first, it would be a different story."

"Really?"

"Really. Stop selling yourself so short. You're a sweet person, and that counts for a whole lot."

Molly swallowed the tears that were forming at his kindness.

"You know what," Wyatt suddenly said. "I have an idea. You need a date, and I think I know just the guy."

Molly quirked an eyebrow. "You think you can find a guy who'd want to go with me?" She jokingly remarked, "Are they blind?"

Wyatt rolled his eyes, "Stop that. I'm serious. It's your senior Prom, I'd feel awful if you didn't go just because you were counting on me. You guys can even share the limo with me and Amber."

"Okay, who'd you have in mind?"

000

"No freaking way."

Wyatt ran a hand through his hair in frustration. He was on the edge of his bed in the room he shared at the Manor with his kid brother, who was currently pacing in front of him. "Chris, it's just one night, and it'll make her dream come true. Plus, she's my charge, and the Elders said that if she doesn't get more confidence she might never become the whitelighter she's meant to be."

Chris paused in his tracks and glared at his sibling. "You just had to pull the future whitelighter card didn't you? You just knew I couldn't say no to all those innocents and witches she's supposed to save in the future. You suck, Wyatt."

"That a yes?"

The younger brother rolled his jade eyes heavenward. "I hate dances."

"It's a senior prom and you're only a sophomore. It'll earn you cool points just for being there at all."

"I hate popularity."

"Okay, well, you can make fun of all the popular people, and how they can't dance. Ooh, and there's gonna be punch."

"I hate punch."

"It's a favor to me."

"I hate _you_."

Wyatt sighed, eyeing his little brother. "You don't really."

"No."

The older sibling patted the spot on Chris' bed directly across from where he was currently perched on his own mattress. The younger brother reluctantly flopped down on it.

"Okay, Chris, I know you're in that whole anti-social stage, wearing all black and the trench coat and basically only interested in demon hunting, but I'm begging you. Please do this for me. Get in touch with your inner whitelighter and help guide this girl back onto the path she is destined for. I would do it myself, but I already have a date, and I can't back out. Besides, I think this opportunity came for a reason. You may be the best witch around, but you haven't been assigned any charges yet for a reason."

"Yeah, what reason is that oh-wise-one?"

"You don't connect with people as easily as me or Dad or even Aunt Paige. Maybe this girl can help you as much as you can her."

"Firstly, you sound like Dad, which is not needed. One person with the annoying whitelighter pep talk ability is enough for one house. Secondly, you're not going to drop this until I go, are you?"

Wyatt grinned. "Glad you understand me, Bro."

"Fine, but I'm not wearing a tux."

000

"But, Mooom," Chris whined.

Piper Halliwell rolled her eyes at her son's pitiful tone as she continued plating the stuffed chicken that she'd made for dinner. She then handed him a spoonful of the wild rice that was to be the side dish. "Taste this." A beat, "You are not going to prom without a tux, Christopher, and that's that."

"It's my prom," Chris shot back. "I should be able to express myself anyway I want to."

He tasted the rice and pulled a face. He handed the spoon back to her. "Pinch more salt."

"Thought so." She added grabbed the salt shaker off the counter, shook a little into her hand and then sprinkled some into the pot of rice. When that was done, she turned around to face her son. "All I'm saying, Chris, is that you can express yourself anyway you want to any other day, but Wyatt described your date to me, and the last thing she needs is some punk taking her to prom."

She handed him another spoonful of rice.

Chris rolled his eyes. "I'm not a punk. I'm merely refusing to conform to the images that society demands."

He paused in his tirade long enough to re-taste the rice. "It's good."

He handed the spoon back to her, "I think it's wrong to judge people by how they look or dress instead of on their merits. Just because I'm not wearing a penguin get-up does not mean I'm not a perfect gentleman just like you and Dad raised me to be."

"And tomorrow night you'll look it."

"Mom, you aren't listening to me."

His mother smiled softly. "Oh, I'm listening all right. Now, it's your turn. This girl deserves a prince charming for her prom." She paused frowning, "Or at least a Prince Charmed."

Her teenage son rolled his eyes at her pun.

"Chris, from what your brother told me Molly needs tomorrow night to be magical."

Chris grinned, "I could orb us to the prom instead of taking the limo. That'd be pretty magical. Heck, I could even summon some demons to vanquish– add a little firework show into the evening."

"Not what I meant, Christopher."

Wyatt and Leo walked into the room just then, both talking animatedly about the baseball game they'd just finished watching on television. They paused when they saw the looks in the eyes of the other two family members.

"Stubbornness showdown number. . ." Wyatt turned to his father, "what number are we on?"

Leo sighed, shaking his head. "This week? Thirty-eight."

"Thirty-nine," Piper amended. "You missed the one this afternoon when I informed him that skipping school to vanquish demons is not acceptable."

Chris folded his arms over his chest. "I'll have you know that demon killed innocent children. _Children_, Mom."

"And you could have vanquished it to your heart's content _after_ school."

"After it killed more innocent children you mean."

"Christopher. . ."

Leo stepped in, "It's already vanquished, right?"

Both mother and son nodded.

"Then why don't we leave it in the past."

Wyatt got on his father's peace-making train. He grabbed one of the plates of chicken and then heaped a pile of rice next to. As he made his way over to the table he made sure to say loudly, "Wow, Mom, this food sure does look amazing. I can't wait to dig in."

"She's a chef," Chris muttered, a silent 'duh' hanging in the air.

Leo cuffed him upside the head.

"I thought you were a pacifist," the younger witchlighter grumbled.

"I'm pacifying the situation," his father innocently answered.

Meanwhile, Piper had already moved to sit at the table next to Wyatt, and was excitedly telling him where she had gotten the recipe from, and how she had been wanting to try it out for some time, but hadn't had the opportunity until that afternoon.

Chris and Leo grabbed their own plates and joined them at the table.

The little family had been chit-chatting about their days for ten minutes or so, when Leo asked the one question that he shouldn't. "So, Chris, Wyatt said you're taking a friend of his to prom. That's pretty exciting, huh?"

"Yeah, and he's not planning on wearing a tux," Piper cut in.

Chris rolled his eyes. "It's not like I'm going to be wearing a garbage bag."

"No tux?" Leo asked. "Why not? It's a formal dance."

Wyatt started putting more and more food into his mouth as he saw the tension building. The last thing he wanted was to be drug into this conversation.

"It's not a big deal," Chris answered. "People dress all kinds of ways for Prom. Right, Wy?"

The Twice Blessed pointed at his mouth and mumbled something incoherent.

"You're not people," Leo argued. "Your you. Don't you want to look nice for your first big dance?"

Chris threw his fork down on his plate and leaned back in his chair. "You two are not going to let this image thing go, are you?"

"If you won't do it for us, do it for your date," Piper finished. "Wyatt said she's never fit in a day in her life. Let her have the handsome date she deserves, all decked out in a nice tux."

The young man sighed and turned to his brother. "You really think it will mean something to her?"

This time Wyatt swallowed to answer. "She's a nice girl. She deserves the fairy tale. Even if it is stereotypical and goes against your grain."

Chris sighed, knowing when he had lost. "Fine. I'll wear a tux. But where am I supposed to find one on this short notice?"

Leo smiled, "I have one you can borrow."

"Oh goodie."


	2. Prom Day

**Thanks a bunch to everyone who reviewed. I love feedback ;)**

CHAPTER 2

**Prom Day**

It was three-thirty in the afternoon. The grand march was supposed to begin promptly at six, and Wyatt had phoned to tell her last night that he and her date, Chris– whoever that was– would be picking her up at about four to go have dinner at a restaurant called Charmed.

Molly smiled as she looked at herself in the full length mirror that was hanging on the back of her bedroom door. Her mother was a beautician and had done a wonderful job on her hair– it had been softly curled and was cascading down her back. Her mother had even found this great hair spray that added just a touch of silver glitter into the hair, along with two opal clips that held a side section of hair on either side toward the back. The effect was quite elegant.

She would have had her mother do her nails too, but she had a nasty habit of biting them off when she was nervous, so they were too short to do much with, so Molly had purchased glue-on nails instead. They were a very light silver color in french manicure style, but had white roses air brushed on them, outlined in silver glitter.

Then, there was her dress. It was a black strapless dress that flowed out from the waist, but also had a large slit up one side that was filled in with white fabric instead of the black. The bottom of the skirt including the edges of the slit were all lined with small, embroidered white flowers that each held a tiny rhinestone in the middle.

Lastly, her mother had done her make-up. They used a nice coral blush and soft pink lipstick. The mother-daughter duo had decided to be simple with her cheeks and lips in order to pay more attention to her eyes, which were definitely her best physical trait. They'd chosen a rich golden eyeshadow that brought out green specks in her hazel eyes, and lined them with black, giving her a rather exotic look.

So, looking into the mirror, Molly couldn't help but smile at what she saw. For the first time, she didn't think about sizes or shapes, but instead saw the whole picture. She felt pretty. It had been such a long time since she could look herself in the mirror and truly feel beautiful. However, seeing herself all dressed up, the young lady felt like a princess.

She gave a little twirl and smiled as the skirt billowed out.

"You look so beautiful honey," her mother said.

Molly smiled, her face lighting up. "Thank you so much for helping me, Mom. Tonight is going to be perfect. I can just tell."

The mother's face fell slightly. She rose from the bed and put a hand on her daughter's shoulder. "Honey, how well do you know this Wyatt boy?"

"I've known him since elementary school."

"Have you ever really talked to him though?"

Molly shrugged. "Not really I guess. Why?"

"Are you sure you can trust him?"

The daughter understood then. Her mother thought she was going to be disappointed. There would be no Chris, and Wyatt and his beautiful date would probably drive by their house laughing as she stood outside all alone, watching as Prom drove by without her.

"He's not mean," Molly argued. "He's always been nice to me. He even stood up for me against one of his jock friends."

"But, Sweetie, from what you've told me, this Wyatt boy is good looking, popular and smart. I just don't want to see you get hurt."

Molly folded her arms over her chest. "So, you don't think I could get a date with someone good looking, or popular or smart? It has to be a set-up because no one would want to go to Prom with your fat daughter?"

"Molly, enough. That's not what I meant at all. It just all seems so. . .perfect. Too good to be true. I just want you to be aware that things may not turn out exactly like you think they will."

The daughter let out a breath to calm down. She knew where this was coming from. "Mom, it isn't gonna be like what happened to you at your prom."

Her mother looked away. "I didn't think it would turn out that way at the time– him never showing up. That night hurt a lot. I don't want that for you. The Wyatt Halliwells in the world don't go for girl's like us."

Molly bit her tongue, knowing that arguing with her mother would get her no where. "Fine. It's not like I'm going with Wyatt anyway."

Her mother frowned. "You're not? I thought that's what you said. . ."

"No. I said Wyatt was setting me up with someone, and that we're all going to prom together. Me and my date, and Wyatt with his. So, I'm going with Wyatt, just not _with_ Wyatt."

"Oh. I guess I was confused. So, who exactly are you going with?"

"His name is Chris."

"Chris what?"

Molly frowned. "You know, I don't know."

"You don't even know your date?"

"Mom, it doesn't matter. I'm going to prom, and I'm sure it will be fun. Worse case scenario, Bryan will be there."

"With a date."

"So? She may be kissing him, but I'm the one that listens when his heart gets broken and brings him cookies when he's had a bad day. If I need him, he'll be there for me. Stop worrying, Mom. What's the worst that could happen?"

000

"I'm not going."

Wyatt looked over to his little brother and rolled his eyes. "Chris, for the last time, it's not that bad. Really."

While Wyatt had one of the more modern day tuxedos with the no button styling coat, fine satin trim and a wide satin band around the neckband along with a Le Cravat tie and plain silver vest, Chris got to wear his father's old tuxedo back from their parents' wedding. Leo had purchased the tux after the wedding because Victor had appreciated the fact he owned one so much, and the former Elder figured he would probably need a tux again in the future. Not to mention (Leo had confided in Chris as he was handing it to him earlier that day) he felt a little like James Bond in it.

The witchlighter didn't know who James Bond was, but he had to wonder if the man felt as itchy in his tux as he did in his father's.

"I look stupid."

"You look good," Wyatt argued with him. "Like a classic movie actor."

Chris pulled a face as he struggled to do his bow tie. "Whoever invented this thing should be vanquished."

"Do you need help?"

The younger brother glared at the older. "No, I don't need help. It's just a stupid tie. I've been fighting demons since I was two. I can handle a piece of cloth."

"Really? Cause, it looks like you could use another hand or two."

Chris pulled the two ends of the tie and looked at his accomplishment in the mirror. It was in a knot. He sighed and looked over to his older brother. "Fine."

"What was that?" Wyatt teased.

"I said fine."

"Fine what?"

"Fine, do the tie."

"Why do I need to do the tie?" Wyatt innocently asked. "After all, it's not like you need any _help_ or anything. It's just a piece of cloth."

Chris glared at his sibling. The older teen merely grinned like an idiot at him. The younger brother rolled his eyes, his own lips turning upward. Sometimes Wyatt really was contagious. "Okay, I need help, all right? Happy now?"

"Of course, I am."

Wyatt moved in front of his kid brother and adeptly tied the object of Chris' frustration. When it was finished, the older boy took a step back to admire his handiwork. "All done."

Chris gazed into the mirror again. First he looked at Wyatt's reflection and then his own. "This sucks. You look like you could be walking the red carpet, and I'm stuck looking like something out of the nineties."

"The nineties were a good decade."

"Stop trying, Wy."

"I just don't want you to feel bad."

Chris smiled at that. "Thanks, but it's not about me. Nothing about this is about me. I'm thinking about that charge of yours. The only reason I agreed to any of this was because of her, and you said she's never fit in, so how's this," he gestured to his image in the mirror, "going to help that?"

"Because she'll be with a nice guy who respects her for who she is and who isn't the president of the Dungeon's and Dragon's club."

"Those guys creep me out."

"Yeah, and scary part is they've been around forever."

"Will it never end?"

"We can only hope."

Piper's voice came from downstairs, "Boys, the limo is here."

Wyatt grinned at his kid brother, slinging his arm over the younger teen's shoulders. "Ready?"

"If I said no, would it matter?"

"Not in the least."

000

Molly kneeled on the couch, peeled back the curtains and checked the street for the thousandth time in the last fifteen minutes. No limo. It was almost four-thirty. They were late.

Or worse.

They weren't coming.

The young woman let the curtain fall from her hand and slowly slumped onto the sofa. She looked at the clock one more time to confirm the time. When it only served to switch a minute farther from the time of their appointed arrival, she closed her eyes and swallowed back the nausea that suddenly hit her.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid."

Molly rose and looked at herself in the oval shaped mirror hanging on the livingroom wall. She stared at the reflection. She saw the heaviness of her cheeks, the width of her chin, the shortness of her neck. The beauty she had seen in herself before was fading as the fear of rejection took full hold on her. "Mom was right. . ."

She closed her eyes and turned away from her image.

The doorbell rang.

Molly's breath caught in her throat, and she nearly ran to the door. When she reached the door, she straightened herself up a bit and then pulled it open. What she saw on the other side of the door made her mouth fall open in shock.

A tall, gorgeous teen with shaggy chestnut hair that fell into cool jade eyes. And he was holding a corsage of white roses lined in silver glitter. He smiled unsurely, "Molly?"

She nodded, still in shock. "Uh huh."

"I'm Chris," the young man introduced. "Sorry, we're late. That's my fault. I had them run to a flower shop to pick this up." He lifted up the corsage. "I hope you aren't too upset."

Molly shook her head, still unable to find her voice.

"Here, let me just. . ." He gently took her left hand and placed the corsage on her wrist. "There. I hope you like it."

Molly glanced numbly at her wrist, seeing the absolute beauty of the dainty flowers. However, it wasn't the corsage that had her in a stupor; she was in complete awe of the touch of his hand on hers as he had placed the corsage on her. His touch had been so soft and careful. Not to mention all the butterflies she received at the fact a guy so good looking was touching her at all.

"Th-thank you," she managed after a moment.

Chris genuinely smiled. "You're welcome."

She looked down at the perfect flowers now residing on her wrist. How had he come up with such a great corsage on such short notice? In fact, where had he even gotten such lovely flowers? They were so pure white they practically shone. "They're amazing. How'd you get them?"

"Magic," Chris answered with a little grin that she couldn't quite interpret.

It was just then that Molly's mother appeared. The woman looked even more shocked to see Chris than her daughter had. "You must be Chris."

"Unless Molly has another date to prom named Chris."

The woman held out her hand, "I'm Molly's mother, JoAnne Vettle. Nice to meet you, Chris."

"You too."

Chris glanced down at his watch. "We should get going. We're already running late for the reservation and my mom's manager is a pretty impatient guy. He'll tell them to give the table to someone else if we're too late– boss' sons or no."

"Okay, I'll just see you two at the Grand March, then," Ms. Vettle replied. "I love you, Honey. Have fun."

Molly rolled her eyes good naturedly. "I will. We'll see you later, Mom."

Chris offered his date his arm. "Come on. Let's go."

As the two made their way to the awaiting limo, Molly realized what exactly it was her date had just said. "So, you and Wyatt are brothers then?"

"Yeah. He didn't tell you?"

"No."

"Is that a problem?"

Molly shook her head, smiling. "Not at all."

Chris held open the door for her.

The young lady lifted her eyebrows at the gesture.

"My dad was old fashioned. Wyatt and I are the only two teenagers on the face of the planet to stand up when a woman leaves the table."

"Well, I think it's sweet," Molly answered before lifting the edge of her skirt just a little and hopping into the back seat of the limo. Her date helped gather the rest of her skirt into the car before gently shutting the door and making his way to the other side of the car.

Wyatt smiled at his charge, "Hey, Molly. Wow, you look amazing."

His date, Amber, nodded, "I love your dress."

"Thank you," Molly answered with a blush.

As Chris opened the other door to climb inside the vehicle, Molly noticed a bruise just starting to form on Wyatt's jaw. "That looks pretty bad. What happened?"

Chris smirked. "Wyatt forgot how to duck."

His older brother glared at him, "I ran into a shelf."

The younger brother rolled his eyes. "A shelf?"

Wyatt discreetly elbowed his sibling. "You know, just being clumsy. I get it from my Aunt Paige. Well, anyway," the twice blessed went on, "how about we get this party started, huh?"

"I'm starving," Amber agreed. "Let's go."

Chris whispered conspiratorially to Molly, "Let the fun begin."

tbc. . .


	3. Dinner

Thanks to everyone reading this. :)

CHAPTER 3

Dinner

Charmed, the restaurant owned by one Piper Halliwell-Wyatt, was a cozy, softly lit restaurant that was all about creating a magical atmosphere. The ceiling was painted black with tiny lights inserted into it to make it look like the night sky, the walls were painted a cobalt blue and the tables and chairs were all a sleek black.

Wyatt and Chris crawled into their specially reserved booth in one of the far corners, away from the kitchen, smiling at their two dates, who were already seated and waiting for the boys to join them.

"So, where'd you two get off to there?" Amber asked her date.

"Just calming down the manager. Apparently, quite a few other couples decided to eat here tonight, and he's understaffed. Especially considering one of his best Chefs couldn't work tonight."

Chris shrugged, "Hey, he can't get mad at me. Mom told him I couldn't work tonight."

Molly's eyebrows shot up. "You're a chef here?"

"I work Friday and Saturday nights and then lunch and early dinner on Sunday. So, it's not like a career or anything, just a job. I do take after my mom though. She used to be a professional Chef before she decided to buy the club and then this place."

Wyatt added, "Chris used to follow her around everywhere when he was a kid. I remember Mom got so tired of his fussing that she finally got him a little fake cooking set so he could pretend he was doing whatever she was."

Amber giggled, "Oh funny."

"I think it's cute," Molly defended him, blushing when Chris shot her a grateful smile.

"Hey, at least I didn't try to make mac and cheese using chunks of cheddar cheese tossed into the pasta."

Amber frowned, obviously not quite understanding the problem with that idea.

Molly pulled a face. "Oh no."

"Hey, it tasted good," Wyatt argued.

Chris rolled his eyes. "It was a giant wad of cheese and noodles the size of your head."

Wyatt shrugged and patted his shoulder, "That's why when I move out, you're coming with me, so I don't starve to death."

A rather young looking waitress stepped over to their table just then, carting four water glasses on her tray. She then realized who it was sitting at her table. "Oh wow, Chris, what are you doing here? I thought you were sick since you weren't on tonight."

"Prom night, Sam. Have a date," Chris gestured to Molly. "This is Molly. Molly, this is my good friend Sam."

Molly couldn't believe how gorgeous Sam was. She was tiny. No more than five feet four inches probably, with a waist that a guy could probably wrap his hands around quite easily. Her face was very small, almost pixie like in quality, which was aided by her short brown hair, which framed her face, but didn't go very much further than the bottom of her ears. And her eyes, which were currently fixated rather steadily on Chris, were a soft grey that added to her sprite like appearance.

"It's nice to meet you," Molly finally answered.

"Likewise." Sam didn't pay her much attention, instead focusing on Chris. "So, what are you going to hassle Jimmy with making tonight?"

Molly watched the way the two interacted. Chris' face lit up when he looked at this girl, though not nearly as much as Sam's did upon gazing at Chris. Were they more than just friends? Had there ever been something more between them? Was that the direction the two were heading? More importantly, why did she find herself caring? Wasn't Wyatt the one she had been crushing on since elementary school?

Chris grinned. "Probably the mutton since I know he hates preparing it."

"Mu-tone?" Wyatt asked. "What is Mu-tone?"

"Mutton, you half-wit. It's lamb."

Amber giggled. "Are you guys like this all the time?"

"Pretty much.," Wyatt replied with a shrug.

Sam added, "You get used to it." She turned back to Chris. "Okay, Mr. Fancy Pants, what for a drink?"

"I'll just stick with my water."

Sam punched it into her hand held computer. She then turned to Wyatt. "How about for you? Do you know what'd you like?"

"I'm gonna go with a nice well done steak and a coke, please."

The waitress moved her gaze onto Amber as she finished putting in Wyatt's order.

"I'd like the grilled chicken salad with the raspberry vinegarette on the side, and I'll just keep drinking my water too."

Wyatt and Chris exchanged looks.

Molly just stared at Amber. A salad. The girl ordered a salad? That was all? No wonder she was so thin. Maybe that's what the skinny girls all do to be thin– eat salads all the time. She looked back at the description of what she really wanted. It was chicken cordon blu. It sounded heavenly. . .and really really fattening. She bit her bottom lip. Should she get it?

Sam looked up from punching in Amber's order. She smiled as a sign that she was ready whenever Molly was.

"I'd like the chicken cordon blu, please. And water's just fine."

Sam nodded, finished putting in the order, then grabbed the menus from the girls. Before she left she gave one last smile to Chris and informed them she'd be back with their food shortly.

Amber shook her head, "Wow, Cordon Blu. I could never eat something like that. I mean, do you know how many calories you're talking? It has cream and wine and is fried and gosh, are you sure you really need that?"

Molly swallowed the knife like feeling the words caused. Amber had asked if she really needed that dish. Not wanted, needed. The other girl probably wanted to end the sentence with because let's face it, you're fat. Would she have asked a thin girl that question? No. And now, Molly felt like something was wrong with her. Chris and Wyatt probably thought she was a cow. Maybe she was. After all, Amber had only gotten a salad.

She bit her lip and looked down at the table, swallowing down the embarrassment she felt, which was turning her face bright red.

"Don't tell me you're one of the calorie counters," Chris's harsh voice cut into Molly's thoughts. She looked up to find him addressing Amber. He continued, "I hate that. It's a restaurant. _My_ restaurant, and instead of trying these amazing dishes that me and the others work our butts off to prepare, you order a salad? They say you are what you eat. . .guess you're boring as hell."

Amber's mouth fell open in complete shock. She turned to Wyatt, "Are you going to let him talk to me like that?"

"Let him? As if I could stop him?"

"Let me out."

Wyatt sighed and rose from his place on the booth as Amber crawled out and stormed off toward the ladies' restroom. He shot his brother a look.

Chris put on his best innocent face. "What?"

"There's this word in the dictionary called tact. You should look it up sometime, Chris. In the meantime, I suppose I should try to calm her down and get her to come back." Wyatt paused and looked at Molly. "I'm sorry she said that. I don't think she really meant any offence. I just don't think she was thinking. I'll talk to her about it, I promise."

Molly shrugged indifferently, unable to look Wyatt in face for fear he would see a shine to her eyes. "Okay."

The older brother gave a sharp look of warning to his sibling before heading off to find and placate his date.

After the Twice Blessed was out of ear shot, Chris turned to his own date. "You okay?"

"Me? Sure. Why wouldn't I be?" She forced a stunning smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. When he just stared knowingly at her, she let it drop. "Is it that obvious?"

"Kinda."

Molly picked up her water glass and took a drink in order to avoid his gaze. When she set it back down he was still looking at her. She let out a breath and put the smile back on her face. "So, what do you like to do for fun?"

"Why are you changing the subject?"

"Because this is supposed to be a fun night. I mean, I'm sure this isn't exactly your idea of a great time as it is, and I don't want to make it any worse for you by being overly sensitive. So, I figured we could just let it drop."

Chris' brows furrowed. "What do you mean any worse for me?"

"I mean you don't know me. I don't know you. And I'm sure when your brother told you he had a girl for you to take to prom I wasn't what you were expecting. I'm betting you were expecting someone more like Amber," she paused and hesitantly, and in what she hoped came off as nonchalantly, added, "or Sam."

The young man's eyebrows shot up and a small laugh escaped from his lips. "Sam? Uh, Molly. . .she's a lesbian."

"Oh," was all his date could manage.

Chris kept chuckling. "Yeah. Besides, she's like my sister."

"Okay, okay, but still. I can't be what you were expecting."

"Why not?"

Molly shrugged. "You know. Because I'm not a salad eater."

"I take that as a good thing. Besides, why do you let people make you feel bad about yourself? Most people are idiots. Stand up for yourself. Tell them to cram it."

"I can't."

It was then that Chris began staring at her with those amazing green eyes of his, and just like his physical touch earlier had been gentle, so too was his gaze on her in this moment. And just like before, she felt like something inside her was going to burst if he kept doing it.

"You know, you remind me of my mom a little. She used to tell me and Wyatt horror stories from her highschool days. She was the quiet one. The shy one. The one that never wanted to step on anybody's toes. So much so that she couldn't stand up for herself. Sounding familiar isn't it?"

"Freakishly so. How'd you know that after only half an hour?"

"I pride myself on being able to read people, get down to who they really are. Anyway, the moral of this story is that my mom became one of the strongest people I've ever known. She's petite but has the ability to intimidate both me and Wy with a single look. She's still sweet and nurturing, but she's learned to be confident enough in herself to not take any body else's crap."

Molly let out a breath. "I don't see that happening for me."

"Why not?"

The young woman looked at him. She gestured vaguely at herself. "What's there to be confident about. People are right. I'm not exactly beautiful now am I?"

Chris looked her straight in the eyes. "I think you are."

Molly's breath caught in her throat. She was about to respond when Wyatt and Amber returned to the table, breaking the moment.

"Molly," Amber started, "I'm so sorry. I didn't even realize how that would sound. It's just my mother's a nutritionalist and has been drilling healthy eating into my head for so long that– well, that's not the point. I'm really sorry I hurt your feelings. I didn't mean to. I hope you can believe that."

Molly saw the sincerity in the girl's face. Heard the guilt in her tone. "It's okay."

Wyatt cleared his throat, his blue gaze focused on his little brother.

"Yes?"

"Something you want to tell Amber?"

Chris just stared at him. "No."

Wyatt shot him a dark look.

The younger boy shrugged his shoulders, looking the image of disinterested.

Molly leaned over to whisper to Chris, "For me?"

Chris looked over at his date and saw the plea in her hazel eyes. She didn't want their double date to be awkward. And he'd promised everyone that he'd do whatever it took to make this her dream date. So, with a sigh he looked to Amber. "Sorry."

"You're forgiven."

Chris bit his tongue to keep back a smart-ass retort.

Wyatt noticed and mouthed a thank-you.

The rest of the dinner was uneventful, filled with idle chit-chat and a few fake laughs. However, for Molly it was perfect because the rest of the time they sat at the table, Chris' words were floating in her head warming her chest and making her giddy. He thought she was beautiful.

tbc. . .


	4. Grand March

Sorry this took so long, life is craaaazy busy right now. But, I want everyone to know that I really appreciate the support I've been getting for this story. I know it's not my usual stuff, but I needed a break from all the angst lol. I hope you all enjoy this part, I took particular joy in writing it, which is why it's so long :)

CHAPTER 4

**The Grand March**

As their limo pulled up next to the sidewalk, right in front of the gymnasium doors, Chris let out a groan. When the other occupants in the car gave him curious looks he pointed out the window to where his parents and aunts were lurking outside, their cameras at the ready. It was no secret that Chris hated being photographed. The shocking part was Wyatt didn't like it either. So, when the older brother saw what it was the younger was pointing to, he let out his own moan.

"What's wrong with you two?" Molly questioned, the amused tone to her voice hard to miss.

Chris sighed. "Family. Ours is entirely too big."

"I like big families," Amber put in. "Means more love to go around."

The younger Halliwell's eyebrows shot up at that. His green eyes slid to his sibling, shooting him an annoyed stare, which his sibling returned with a shrug. Chris then shook his head and pulled open the door, crawling out first. When he was on his feet, he offered a hand to Molly, helping her out.

Two seconds later, he was blinded by flashing lights.

As he blinked furiously, trying to stop the white spots forming in front of his eyes, he could hear Molly laughing lightly by his side. Apparently, she found his family's smothering amusing. And for some reason, her humor spread to him, and he good naturedly let a smile come to his face while he put an arm around her and posed for another barrage of photos.

Once he had succumb to the demand for a good picture, he and Molly were left alone and Wyatt and Amber were attacked by the Charmed trio's camera happy hands.

"See, was that so bad once you just went with it?" Molly teased.

Chris folded his arms over his chest. "It wasn't my idea of a good time, but watching Wyatt get tortured is definitely making up for it."

The duo looked over to find Wyatt's eyes squeezed shut, his hands in front of his face while his mother and Aunts beckoned him to knock it off and just behave long enough for them to snap a good shot. Amber for her part was acting as a model, her chin up, her feet posed just so and her arms around her hapless date's waist.

Molly shook her head in admonishment, but her hazel eyes danced with merriment. "You're a horrible brother, letting him suffer like that."

Chris just nodded in agreement, a thoroughly satisfied smirk on his face, which caused his date to laugh out loud.

Leo walked over to them just then, a sympathetic look on his face. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and shrugged. "I tried to tell them to go easy on the pictures, but you know how the girls are when they want something."

"The word relentless comes to mind," Chris answered dryly.

His father chuckled and nodded. "I think that may be the perfect word."

At long last, Wyatt finally gave the women what they wanted, smiling cheesily and putting an arm around his date's shoulders. The Charmed Ones took their pictures, and then the Twice Blessed rubbed his eyes, complaining about spots and going blind on a permanent basis.

"Oh, zip it, Mister," Piper lightly remarked. "You'll survive."

Phoebe hurried over to Chris, putting her hands on his cheeks. "Oh you are so handsome. Just look at you all handsome. I can't believe it."

Chris rolled his eyes and pulled away from his aunt. He turned to Molly who was trying very hard not to laugh, and failing miserably. "You see what I have to put up with?"

"Poor baby."

"You know, I never thought I would see the day when Chris actually looked like a gentleman. He's always so dark and twisty and neurotic and– "

"– Standing right here," Chris protested.

Phoebe waved him off. She looked over to the boy's date and added conspiratorially, "He always was a little crabby."

"My son is not crabby," Leo defended, earning a smile from said off-spring.

"Who's crabby?" Paige asked, coming over.

"Chris."

"Oh." She thought for a second. "Yeah..."

Chris took a deep breath and shot his companion a look full of annoyance, which made her cause of fighting the laughter even harder.

"Still, you're lookin' good, Dude," Paige commented, nodding approvingly. "Like the tux. Very Bond."

"Again with the reference I don't recognize. Just shows you're getting old, Aunt Paige."

"Hey, little man, I am not old." Paige held up her chin. "I'm classic."

Leo just laughed at the exchange, long used to his son and sister-in-law's repartee. Sometimes it was so reminiscent of how things had been before, back when a different Chris had come to the past to save them all that Leo forgot they were two different people.

Piper came over to her youngest son, Wyatt and Amber in tow. She smiled tearily at her little boy, nearly all grown up. He looked so handsome and debonaire. And so much like the man she had lost so long ago.

"Mom?" Wyatt asked, noticing her shiny eyes. "Please don't cry. We can't take it."

"You both are just growing up way too fast for me." Piper sniffed. "My two little boys are at Prom with beautiful women on their arms. Pretty soon you'll both be leaving me behind to go off to college. I'm just so proud of you two. You know that right?"

"Yes, Mom," both boys intoned.

Piper smiled content. "Well, don't worry, we'll be on our way soon, and then we can't embarrass you anymore."

"You could never embarrass us, Mom," the eldest son answered.

The younger brother rolled his eyes, "Hey, Wy, I think you have something on your nose."

The Twice Blessed cuffed him upside the back of the head, causing Piper to whistle shrilly. "Chris, no making fun of your brother. Wyatt, no physically abusing Chris for being a wise ass."

Leo shook his head at his sons. Boys will be boys. Just because they were the most powerful witches the world had ever known didn't mean they weren't normal brothers too. Times like this reminded the former Elder of that fact.

"Sometimes I think Piper got her normal life after all," Phoebe whispered to her brother-in-law.

"I think so too."

Paige glanced at her watch. "Almost show time. You guys better get in line for the grand march or you'll be dead last." She turned to the others. "And if we want a hope of getting a seat of any kind we should get in there."

"This is so exciting. My nephews are going to prom," Phoebe nearly squealed.

Piper rolled her eyes. "Come on, You. Let's get inside. I want to be able to actually _see_ my sons go through the grand march."

Phoebe pouted, shooting one last look at her nephews, smiling and waving to them as she was dragged inside by both of her sisters.

Leo hesitated just long enough to put a hand on both of his boys' shoulders, give them a gentle squeeze accompanied by a smile, and then followed the others inside the building.

"Grand march?" Chris asked, looking at his sibling.

Wyatt rolled his eyes. "Us, the girls, walking through the gym. Stopping at a platform so the whole world can snap their cameras in our sorry directions."

"Oh, I don't think so," the young man shook his head. "I am not gonna parade around in front of the entire student body and their parents like some sort of purebred puppy."

"Yes you are."

"No, Wy, I'm not."

"Yes, Chris, you are."

"I said no."

"I said yes."

"Well, who cares what you say?"

"Everyone."

Molly cut in at that point. "It's okay. The last thing in the world I want is to have to stand in front of that big crowd and have them staring at me."

"But it's the best part of prom," Amber argued. "Everyone can see your dress and your hair, and how hot your date is. And, Molly, let's face it, we have extremely good looking dates. We'll be the envy of the entire female student body."

Wyatt put his arm around her shoulder and smiled proudly.

Chris rolled his eyes.

"It's just not something I'm comfortable with," Molly countered. She turned to her own date, a quiet desperation in her hazel eyes. "Please, let's just grab a seat and watch those two."

The brunet witchlighter studied her for a moment, saw the complete fear in her face, saw the history of hurt in her eyes. He knew she had self confidence issues, after all, that's why he was here in the first place, but it was only now, just in this instance that he understood just how deep the cuts in her self-esteem were. She was shaking like a leaf at the prospect of a crowd of people looking at her. She was terrified of being seen.

"We're going," Chris found himself replying.

"What?"

Chris turned to his brother, giving the older teen a look. Wyatt interpreted his sibling with the ease their closeness afforded him. He gave a little nod, tugged lightly on Amber's arm and muttered something to the girl about them having to get in line as soon as possible.

Once the other couple was out of earshot, Chris gently took Molly's arm. "I promise it'll be okay."

"No, it won't." Molly shook her head fiercely. "You don't understand what it's like. You don't like pictures or being in front of a crowd because it annoys you. It's not that way for me. I literally can't do this, Chris. Please, don't ask me to."

"Why can't you?"

The young woman looked down, away from his probing green eyes. Her voice was soft and ashamed as she answered, "Because of how I look. Of how people see me. I can't be the center of attention. I'm not ready for that."

"I thought we were over this at the restaurant," Chris shook his head, frustrated with the apparent lack of progress.

Molly smiled weakly. "The hurtful things are easier to believe."

"You're beautiful, and if they can't see that through media stereotypes of what beauty should look like then that's their own ignorant problem."

She didn't respond, so the young man lifted her chin with his fingers. He focused his eyes on hers, locking on and refusing to let go. "I know you don't know me all that well, but I'm asking you to trust me. Can you do that?"

"I can try."

"Then trust me when I tell you that you can do this, and I'll help you through it."

Molly quirked an eyebrow at him. "Why do you care? You didn't want to do this either."

"Honestly? Because you need this."

"You're willing to suffer complete and total humiliation just for me?"

Chris shrugged, his bangs falling into his eyes. "Won't be so bad if you're right by my side. My humiliation happens to enjoy company."

Molly laughed in spite of herself. "Okay, okay. Let's do it."

000

Molly could see into the gym from their spot in line, just outside the hallway in the back of the large building. There were so many people, and lights and cheers. There weren't even enough seats in the gym for everybody, a large number of parents were standing by the front doors, and some teens were sitting on the floor in front of the bleachers, hoping to catch their friends.

Three more couples were in front of her and Chris, one of which was Amber and Wyatt, who had saved a spot for them. Only three more. It would go so fast and then she would have to walk the entire length of the gym with everybody staring at her, and then go up a few steps to stand on a platform and have people snap photos at her. What if she tripped on the stairs and everybody laughed at her? Or what if nobody cheered when they went through? Everyone else was getting cheers, but what if when they got on that stupid platform, there were crickets chirping the background?

"Just breathe," Chris' warm breath assured her ear.

A shiver went down her spine at his close proximity. She turned her head just slightly and saw his face just an inch from her own. His eyes were intently focused on hers. His lips– she turned her head away and took a breath. She was so not going to think about that.

A group of popular kids were standing behind she and Chris, giggling and laughing and in general being highly annoying. Molly turned around to see exactly who it was and was horrified to see her long time torturer, Sara Burnheart amongst them. The red-head had made it her personal duty to make Molly feel as small as humanly possible whenever she could. Molly never knew what she had done to incur the wrath of the Queen Bee of the senior class. Perhaps nothing. Perhaps she was just an easy target for the future Prom Queen to lash out at.

In any case, Molly quickly turned back around, hoping Sara hadn't seen her. Just to make sure she wasn't noticed, she moved a little closer to Chris, who noticed her inching ever closer to him, but didn't say anything about it. She was grateful.

Another couple went through line, their names being announced by the history teacher, Mr. Allen, in a big booming bass voice that resounded through the entire building.

Molly wrung her hands, watching as the girl lost a shoe halfway to the platform. Snickers resounded through the gym, but the girl just kept her cool, got her shoe back on and kept marching with her head held high. The snickers turned to cheers as they reached the platform.

"That's the way to do it," Chris commented.

"What do you mean?"

"Never lose your cool. Be confident and others can't touch you."

Molly snorted derisively.

Another couple passed through the gym. No hitches this time.

Wyatt turned around and gave Molly a thumbs up while Amber gave a piece of paper with their names on it to Mr. Allen.

Molly smiled at the blond teen, unable to help herself. The older Halliwell boy's easy going nature was contagious, and she found herself grinning like mad as she watched Wyatt and Amber saunter across the gym like they owned the place.

"Wyatt Halliwell escorting Amber Crider," the history teacher announced into the microphone.

The Twice Blessed and his date reached the platform and stopped for pictures, the crowd going crazy with cheers and whistles. The football team gave a shout of, "Wy-att, Wy-att, Wy-att." The cheerleaders were clapping and crying out, "Go Amber."

Chris handed their piece of paper to the history teacher and then turned to Molly. "Ready?"

"No."

Chris grinned, "It'll be all right. I swear."

"Hey, if it isn't two-ton Molly," Sara commented behind them. "Don't trip and fall."

Her entourage laughed.

Molly's date was about to turn around and give the prissy little brat a what's for, but at that moment the history teacher announced them.

"Chris Halliwell escorting Molly Vettle."

Molly froze in place, her cheeks burning with embarrassment.

"I'll be with you the whole time. You can do this," her date calmly whispered.

He gently pulled her forward, and to her own amazement her feet started moving of their own volition. They followed the cheep purple fabric path that the prom committee had picked out, and on the way Chris noticed that– surprise, surprise – the theme was Arabian nights. Large cardboard towers were at all four corners, looking like something out of a very cheap version of Aladdin. Everything was gold and purple. Chris imagined this was what his hell would look like.

They had just reached the steps to the platform, and Molly almost stumbled on the first step, unused to wearing heels, but Chris used his grip on her arm to steady her immediately, halting any awkward moment for her in its tracks. She looked up at him and smiled, and he returned it genuinely.

To both of their surprise, the crowd went crazy as they stood in their spot on the platform. People were clapping and whistling, and some of Chris' friends from school– the handful of them– were sitting in the front row next to the Halliwell family cheering and calling out, "Woohoo Chris. Go Molly."

After a moment had passed, Chris led his date gracefully down the stairs and toward the front of the gym. Chris immediately looked at Molly, "See, not so bad."

"Thanks to you," she swiftly answered. "Nice save by the way."

"No problem."

Chris looked up just as Sara Burnheart and her date reached the platform. He felt like booing them, but thought better of it. He had a better idea. As Sara and her jock date started heading down the stairs, Chris thought it was a good time to discreetly flick his finger in her direction, causing her to trip down the last stair, falling on her hands and knees.

Molly's mouth dropped wide open, her hands flying up to her mouth. "Oh my God, Sara Burnheart just fell on her face."

The crowd was laughing hysterically as Miss It scrambled to her feet, brushing out her dress while simultaneously hitting her date, who was merely trying to help her up. She then stormed off the path, with the jock chasing after her.

Wyatt slapped his sibling in the arm.

"What?" Chris innocently asked.

The Twice Blessed narrowed his eyes and hissed, "I saw that. Personal gain. Remember the story about Aunt Phoebe being burned? We save the innocent. We don't punish the guilty."

The younger brother sighed, "I know, I know. I'm not stupid, it's just. . ." He looked over to Molly who had found her mother in the crowd and was hugging her and smiling and laughing and talking at what appeared to be a mile a minute about her night so far. "Look at her."

"What about her?"

Chris shrugged, "Sara was mean to Molly. Really mean, and I. . ." he looked up at his brother and said quite deliberately, "I couldn't help myself."

Wyatt opened his mouth to continue his reprimand when he noticed something about his little brother's face in that moment. Some feature he had never seen before. He frowned, realizing in that moment what was happening. He dropped his lecture and instead put a hand on his brother's shoulder, giving him a small smile.

Chris just kept watching Molly, and even though he'd been saying it all night to boost her self-esteem, he realized that he hadn't been lying. She really was beautiful.

tbc. . .


	5. The Dance

Thanks for all the great feedback!

CHAPTER 5

**The Dance**

After the grand march was complete and all the parents had left the gymnasium, the band set up in the back of the spacious area and couples took to the floor, ready for the first dance of the Bay High senior prom.

As a popular rock hit filled the air with heavy bass and quick catchy lyrics, couples began moving like an ocean of skin, arms flying like waves in the water, bodies bouncing in rhythm to the fast beat of the drums. The teachers acting as chaperones were hard pressed to keep track of the pairs whose proximity level was a little too close for their comfort as it seemed everyone was all over their significant other from the word go.

Chris could see Wyatt and Amber on the outer edges of the large group. His older brother was not only completely tone deaf but had zero rhythm as well, which was made clear as day by the way his sibling was swaying to the music about two beats too slow. Then again, his date wasn't really helping matters. Ms. Crider had her arms wrapped around the blond's neck, her body pressed against his and clinging to him as though it were a slow dance.

The Twice Blessed noticed his sibling staring at him from his spot on the bleachers and gave a little shrug, merely returning his attention to his dance partner, who was snuggling her head into his neck.

"Wow, she really likes him, huh?" Molly commented to Chris over the music, shaking her head as she observed the other couple. "Think he stands a chance of getting out in one piece?"

"Doubtful."

Molly gazed out at the crowd of people and saw the other couples all dancing and laughing. She turned to Chris, who was leaning back against the bleachers, arms folded over his chest and an amused look on his handsome face. She licked her lip nervously before turning fully toward him, which caught his attention, bringing him to look at her with his stunning green eyes, which were made even brighter by the dim lighting of the gym.

"What?" he asked, noticing the look on her face.

"Do you. . .maybe. . .?" she shrugged and gestured to the dance floor.

Chris raised his eyebrows and glanced over at the crowd just in time to see some guy do the cotton swab dance. "Are you serious?"

"It is a dance."

"And do you actually see any dancing?" Chris gestured over to the same kid, who was now performing the sprinkler for his hapless date.

Molly giggled at the sight. "Oh come on. It's funny."

"The word you're looking for is ridiculous."

The raven haired girl quirked her eyebrow at him, grinning mischievously, "Are you saying you're afraid of what other people may think?"

The witchlighter opened his mouth to respond but stopped as he realized what she was getting at. He shook his head at her, "So not gonna work."

"What's not going to work?"

"Using my own argument against me. Saying that I shouldn't care what people think because they're all a bunch of idiots anyway."

Molly shrugged, "Well, since you brought it up. . ."

"No way. Not a chance in hell. I don't do the dancing thing."

His date let out a long sigh, and turned away from him, gazing out longingly at the crowd of couples in front of them.

Chris sighed, knowing that he was fighting a losing battle. After all, this was her prom, and he had promised Wyatt that he would make it as perfect for her as he could. Not to mention the guilt that was seeping into him at the sight of her disappointment.

He rose to his feet and offered her his hand, "You're right. Other people don't matter. You want to dance, so let's dance."

Molly's face lit up in a smile so bright that her date instantly felt any embarrassment suffered on his part would be worth it, so long as that smile stayed on her face. And when she took his hand, and he felt the soft, petite fingers wrap around his own, his heart jumped for the first time in his life. And it scared the hell out of him.

Chris guided her out to an open space on the dance floor, and when the duo had reached the perfect location, he paused, turning to face her front on. He smiled as she started swinging her hips in rhythm to the music, her hands twisting up in the air. She had a great feel for the beat and her movements were graceful yet showed a freedom Chris had yet to see in her before now. She seemed confident as she danced, for the first time not caring what anyone thought, just enjoying the sound of the music and the expression of it through her body.

He didn't realize he had been staring until he felt a light slap on the arm, and heard her laughter.

"Come on, dance," she urged.

Chris half-heartedly stepped side to side in time to the music, not really wanting to draw attention to himself.

After a moment the music ended, a slow song taking its place. Some people went to sit down, opting not to face the awkward closeness of a slow dance with someone that was just their friend. Others merely clung closer together, such as Amber and Wyatt, though the latter had started off toward the bleachers to find his brother before he had been grabbed and forced to remain on the dance floor.

Molly glanced back at the bleachers, assuming her date wouldn't be comfortable slow dancing with her, but was surprised to find Chris' hand on her arm. She glanced back at him to find him smiling shyly.

"If you aren't too embarrassed by my dancing, I'd like the honor."

The young girl's mouth fell open as her heart leapt into her throat blocking any verbal response. As she numbly took his offered hand and he pulled her into position for a slow dance, his hand in the curve of her back, the other hand in hers, she couldn't help but feel she was suddenly living someone else's life. Surely things like this didn't happen to girls like her. A guy as good looking and funny and charming as Chris Halliwell does not say something so romantic to a girl who looks like her. Prince Charming falls for Cinderella at first sight because she looks like she could be related to Barbie, not for her sparkling personality. So, how could any of this be real?

Molly had always been a hopeless romantic, and had heard and read a million times that there were certain moments in a person's life when the world fades away to a blur and the moment slows down, leaving you to feel frozen in an instant, feeling every second more acutely than at any other time in your life, burning those emotions into your heart for the rest of your life. This was one of those moments.

Molly finally understood the phrase 'floating on air' because in this moment, during this dance, that's exactly how she would have described herself. In the arms of this handsome, kind young man, she felt happier and freer than she ever had before. Her mind was shut down, not concentrating on the moves of the dance or on thinking about those that might be watching her or even what Chris himself might be thinking. Her emotions were ruling her, filling her with light and gentle warmth.

The only thing that mattered was this moment. Chris' green eyes looking down at her with a strange sparkle, his little grin playing on the corner of his mouth. His hot hand on the small of her back. The way they moved together, flowing across the dance floor as if they had danced this dance a thousand times before and would continue to dance it a thousand more times.

Then it ended, the spell lasting only a few moments longer than the last chord as she looked up into Chris' eyes and saw a frighteningly similar euphoria in their depths as to her own. She nervously pulled out of his grasp and adjusted her dress even though it was fine. She blushed fiercely at his intense gaze and pushed a stray hair back behind her ear.

Chris, for his part, cleared his throat and looked away from her, not sure what to do. He really like this girl. Which was odd. He didn't really like anybody. Yet something about Molly, some sort of innocent quality she held had caught him off guard, which was a miracle in and of itself. Chris Halliwell was never caught off guard. She had squeezed under his skin though, and there was no denying that. In the short time he had gotten to know her, he really had grown unnervingly fond of her.

During the awkward moment between the two of them, Wyatt happened over, finally having escaped Amber's clingy hands long enough to check up on the two of them. He noticed the look on his sibling's face and understood immediately that something very interesting must have just transpired. He looked over to his sibling asking pointedly, "So, what's up?"

Chris shot him a look that clearly said they would be talking later, but answered casually, "Just giving this whole dancing thing a go. I see you managed to escape for a minute. Where's your lovely date?"

"Taking pictures with the rest of the cheerleading squad," he gestured over to a large group of girls giggling and posing over in the corner. "I took the opportunity to see what you two crazy kids were up to."

The younger brother rolled his eyes, "We're fine, Wy. Thanks."

Molly smiled politely, "I think I'm going to go grab some punch. I'll be back in a minute."

Once the young woman was out of ear shot, Wyatt lifted his eyebrows at his kid brother. "You really like her..."

"Shut up."

"Chris, it's okay. It's really good, actually. She's a sweet girl. I like Molly a lot."

Chris folded his arms over his chest. "Well, gee, that just makes my day. Thank god the all mighty Wyatt Halliwell approves of my crush. That just makes everything all better then."

"Anger and sarcasm. Chris Halliwell version of a cry for help."

"I don't want to talk about it."

"And when in our very long history has that excuse ever worked on me, Chris?"

The younger brother rolled his eyes. "You're a pain in the ass you know that? I mean, it's your fault this is happening in the first place. I didn't want to come. I didn't want to be here with some girl I didn't know, dressed up like an idiot. You made me do it with that guilt trip of yours. And now. . ." Chris took a breath, running a hand through his hair, "I like her."

"The world isn't going to come to an end because you happen to like the girl I set you up with."

"I can't like her, Wy," the brunet argued.

"Why not?"

Chris' green eyes fell to the floor, his hands stuffed into the pocket of his tux. "She's a future whitelighter."

"So?"

The younger brother gave the older a pointed look. "Future whitelighter, Wy."

Realization dawned on the Twice Blessed's face. "Oh. But, Chris, that doesn't mean that she's going to die any time soon. She could live out her whole life, helping others, and just become a whitelighter when she dies naturally."

"How many whitelighters do we know where that's the case?"

Wyatt paused to think.

When he took too long, his brother cut off his calculation, "Exactly, Wy. You have to think that hard about it, it sort of serves my point."

The blond teen let out a breath. "Okay, I see your point, but think of it this way, do you really want to lose the chance to get to know this great person just because you're scared of what the future holds? I mean, it's only your first date. Can't you just relax and let what's going to happen happen? If we've learned nothing as Halliwells it's that you can't fight destiny, Chris."

"I know. It's just if I like her this much already. . ."

Wyatt put a hand on his brother's shoulder. "It'll be okay."

Chris nodded but wasn't entirely convinced. That's when he noticed that a considerable amount of time had passed since Molly had left. He glanced around wondering what was keeping his date. That's when he noticed her over by the doors, Sara Burnheart's group of friends was standing in front of her, blocking her path. Chris frowned and headed over to see what was going on, Wyatt trailing after him.

When they reached the doorway, just behind one of the guys blocking Molly they heard Sara comment, "Doesn't she look good?"

The Queen Bee's date answered, "If a blubbery whale trapped in a prom dress can look good then yeah."

Tears filled Molly's eyes and she pushed her way through the crowd and out the doors of the gym as the group cackled after her fleeing form. A couple of the guys high fived as the girls started commenting on how "they can't believe she actually cried."

Chris started forward just as his brother's hand missed catching his shoulder to stop him. As the younger brother pushed through the outer circle of the crowd Wyatt winced at what he knew was coming. Sure enough, as Chris reached the teenager who had made the hurtful comment, he tapped him on the shoulder. As soon as the guy turned his face toward him, Chris punched him.

"What the hell dude?" the now bleeding teen on the floor questioned.

"Don't you ever talk to or about Molly Vettle that way ever again."

"You're defending that fat freak?"

Wyatt made his way into the circle just then, holding Chris back from further damaging the kid, which he surely would have done given the chance. As it was, the older brother was stronger and grabbed hold of the younger, forcing him out of the room just as the teachers were heading over. Once out in the entrance way, the older teen let go of the younger.

Chris glared at his sibling. "They shouldn't have said it."

"I know."

"The kid had it coming."

"Violence doesn't solve anything. The guy's a jerk. He'll probably die a jerk."

"Might make him think twice though."

"Chris..."

"I know, I know. I need to watch my temper, and you're right violence doesn't solve anything, and I was wrong. What I did was the wrong way of handling it."

"True, but– "

"– I know, Wy. That's no excuse. Wrong thing done for the right reason still wrong. You can lecture me all you want, I understand that– "

"– I was going to say," Wyatt cut in, "that I'll cover you with the teachers while you go find Molly."

"Oh." Chris nodded, "right."

As his kid brother tore out of the building in search for his wayward date, Wyatt watched, shaking his head. "Kids."

tbc. . .


	6. The After Party

**Hey all. Thanks for being patient with little old me :) I'm not 100 percent sure this turned out the way I wanted it to, but here is an update for all you amazing people!**

CHAPTER 6

**The After Party**

As Chris tore out of the gymnasium doors, he looked both ways down the street, searching for some sign of his runaway date. He called her name a few times in each direction but there was absolutely no response other than a shout from one of the basketball players from the backseat of an old crown Victoria followed by a grunt. Chris tilted his head to the side and frowned at the shaking vehicle and as he realized what was going on, rolled his eyes. Some Prom traditions would never die it seemed.

It was right after this that he spotted, out of the corner of his eye, one of the hair clips that Molly had been wearing all evening. The tiny decoration was lying haphazardly on the sidewalk.

Stooping to pick up the hair ornament, Chris smiled sadly at it before removing it from the ground and stowing it away in his tux's coat pocket. Then, he moved in the direction it had seemed to fall from.

By the time he reached the end of the building and turned left toward the parking lot, he could hear the soft cries of young woman. His feet picked up their pace in rhythm to the sound of the tears falling, and as he arrived to the front of the parking lot, near the bus stop, he spotted Molly sitting on the bus bench, knees pulled up to her chest, her dress skirt dirty and torn, her hair falling down around her face and sticking to her wet, pale cheeks.

Chris stopped in his tracks, watching her silently for a minute, not sure what to do. She seemed so small and fragile in that moment, sitting all alone, her dress curled around her like a protective blanket. He wasn't sure if she wanted any company or not. Maybe she blamed him for all this, blamed him for not protecting her from those self-centered, cruel people back there. He should have.

"I'm sorry," he murmured, not intending for her ears to catch the words.

The raven haired girl lifted her face toward him, her hazel eyes turning red and swollen as the mascara she had been wearing smeared and stung her eyes. She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and sniffled. "Why are you doing this?"

"Doing what?" Chris asked as he approached the bench, pausing just behind the back of it.

"Being so nice to me. Taking me to this stupid dance in the first place. You don't know me. You don't owe me anything." Molly shook her head, "What is a guy like you doing with a…" she choked on the words, "fat whale like me."

The brunet reacted more strongly than he had intended, grabbing her shoulders fiercely, his voice harsher than he meant it to be as he responded. "Stop it. Quit it right now. Damn it, Molly. This is why they hurt you. You let them."

"I let them? Did you hear them in there? What they said to me? How they looked at me? I don't belong. No amount of positive thinking is going to change that, Chris. So take your fluffy warm feeling power of positive energy and self-confidence bull shit and leave me alone. Because I can deal with them but not you."

Chris jerked backwards as though slapped. "What? What did I do?"

Fresh tears sprung to her face. "You were nice to me."

"And that's bad how?"

"Because I've built up a defense against them, but then I let my guard down around you. I came out of my shell. I thought that maybe I could fit in, and that maybe I wasn't really even all that different, but then they slap me in the face with those words and everything I thought had changed crumbles back into what it was before, only now it hurts more because I've tasted what it's like to be normal."

Chris sat down on the bench next to her, put a hand on her shoulder. "Molly Vettle, you are normal. More normal than most people in this school. You think that because you are overweight that makes you a freak? It doesn't. Michelle Tou got a nose job when she was in the tenth grade, Amy Nelson got a boob job for her graduation gift, and Simon Harrison used to be even lankier than me before he started juicing up. Those are just the ones I know about. Think about the hundreds of others in our school that are harming themselves or drastically altering their bodies just to fit in."

"I see your point. We're all messed up in our own ways, right? The whole reason they pick on me is to make themselves feel better?"

"Exactly."

"So Sarah Burnheart isn't as perfect as she seems?"

"She kissed me once," Chris confessed.

Molly's eyebrows rose, "What?"

"Yeah, it was at the beginning of the year," he went on. "She just found out I was _the Wyatt Halliwell_'s little brother. Figured I was cool by proxy. So, one day she cornered me in the hallway and somehow tricked me into taking her out to dinner and a movie. Worst experience of my life. Firstly, she ordered water and broccoli for dinner with a side of yogurt and walnuts. As a chef, I was deeply offended. As a person, I was just a little freaked out. Oh, and all she can manage to talk about is who is dating who at school. Because oh-my-god, I just care soooo much about the fact that Tammy Lynn loves Jordan, but Jordan has a thing for Susan Mayer, who might be a lesbian."

Molly laughed at the frighteningly accurate impression of the teen queen.

"Then, we get to the movie, and she talks. Through. The. Whole. Thing." Chris shook his head, "I don't even like it when people talk through the previews. Anyway, off point, the date ends and I'm planning on just escaping as fast as I can, when she grabs me and devours my entire face. It was the _worst_ kiss I've ever had in my life. It was like being attacked by a pit bull, who just slobbers all over you." He shivered and cringed at the memory.

His companion for her part literally laughed out loud until tears came to her eyes.

"So to answer your question, Sarah is no where near perfect."

Molly grew unnaturally quiet.

"What?" Chris questioned, gently nudging her with his shoulder.

"I've never..." her face grew bright red, visible even in the pale lighting of the setting sun.

The witch's eyebrows rose. "You mean...? Never?"

"No one's ever been interested in me enough to want to."

Without hesitating, without questioning, Chris put a hand on her jaw, gently pulling her closer to him until his lips lightly caressed hers. It only lasted the length of a strong yawn, but the sensualness of it would be remembered by both teenagers long after. Chris would recall how the music inside the building seemed to fade away and all he could hear was his own heart beating in his ears, how her tense body slowly melted into an easiness after the first shocking contact of their mouths, and how in his mind there was nothing but a warm haze. Molly would forever recall how soft and warm his lips felt on her own, how she wasn't quite sure how to breathe or when or if she even could in this moment, and most of all she would remember Chris and the fact that he was her first kiss because he wanted to be...because he wanted her.

Chris pushed her hair behind her ear and smiled softly at her. He then put his arm around her and pulled her into his shoulder. Whispering softly, "I really do like you, Molly."

Molly felt her lips turn upward by some will not her own. She snuggled closer to her date and leaned her head against his shoulder. "I like you too, Chris...a lot."

"So, you want to do this again sometime..."

The girl quirked an eyebrow at him and grinned mischievously, "What get dressed up, march in front of hundreds of people, have one dance and then have me bawl my eyes out because some snooty girl had her boyfriend call me a name? Sure sounds like fun."

Chris chuckled, "You forgot the part where I punched him out."

His date jerked up from his shoulder and turned to face him. "You what?"

"I have a bit of a temper. Everyone says I get it from my Aunt Prue."

"Chris, you hit that guy because of what he said to me?"

The brunet shrugged, "He had it coming. He was lucky Wyatt was there. It would have probably been worse."

"It's bound to strike midnight soon."

Chris' brows furrowed. "Come again?"

"Cinderella. That's how I feel right now. You're Prince Charming, and I'm at the ball and soon the coach turns to a pumpkin and I end up in rags again."

The young man grinned, "I'm no Prince Charming."

Just as he was about to lean over to give the young lady another, more passionate kiss, a darklighter black orbed in, shooting an arrow straight at Molly. Chris, sensing the threat, pushed her to the ground, but ended up nicked by the arrow himself. He threw out his other hand, sending the arrow now lying on the ground back at its owner who went up in flames. However, at that point, two warlocks blinked in, one grabbing Molly, the other attacking Chris.

"Chris..." Molly called, terrified of the strange, unbelievable goings on. She struggled in her captor's arms, but it was to no avail as she saw her surroundings fade away in the blink of her eye, and found herself in a new place, dark and ominous.

A few moments later, Chris appeared, limp in the arms of the other warlock, who dumped the witchlighter on the ground like heavy luggage. He kicked the boy for good measure before turning his attention to his comrade. "He called his no good brother before I could blink him out."

The second warlock shook his head, "You imbecile. If the Twice Blessed comes after us...no bounty on this girl could be worth that. Don't you remember what happened to the demons that attacked them a few hours ago?"

"I don't know. They never reported back."

"Exactly."

"But it's orders. The Triad wants her dead. Plain and simple. We kill her and use this one to cut a deal with Wyatt Halliwell and the Charmed Ones. He remains safe as long as they don't come after us."

"It might work," the older looking creature replied.

Chris lifted his head, wincing in pain at doing so, but managed, with a cocky look in his eyes to say, "Not if I do this," just as he raised a hand to orb Molly out of the cavern.

The older warlock shook his head. "You'll pay for that you stupid, Witch."

He moved over to Chris' side, conjuring an athame to his hand and twirling it carelessly between his fingers. Squatting down to the poisoned teen's level, the older warlock hissed, "Welcome to your after party, Chris Halliwell."

tbc...


	7. Party's Over

So sorry for the long delay-- finishing up my education. BUT, from here on out I should be able to update regularly again, which means I'll update my other stories within the next couple of days too :)

CHAPTER 7

**Party's Over**

Wyatt shrugged his shoulders as Mr. Allen repeated his question. He glared over at Sara Burnheart's group, sending a silent message that anyone who did answer the question would suffer innumerable consequences by doing so.

Mr. Allen pushed his glasses further up on his nose and folded his arms. "So what you're attempting to get me to believe is that Ryan's eye just spontaneously decided to turn black and blue?"

"I never said that, Sir." Wyatt answered. "From what I saw, he tripped over one of his two left feet and bashed his face in on one of the bleachers." The witch turned to the boy with the ice pack on his face. "Right, McCallister?"

The youth narrowed his good eye and after a heated pause responded, "Yeah."

The history teacher turned suspicious blue eyes from one teen to the other. When neither young man spoke, he turned his focus to the girls who had been present during the incident. "Well, what do you all have to say?"

Sara opened her mouth, but after a quick look from her date closed it again. She tossed her hair back and turned her face away.

"Sara?" Mr. Allen questioned. "You realize that if no one says anything I'm just going to pretend I believe the bleacher story. I have better things to do than play detective. So, if you're alright with injustice, by all means, keep quiet, and I'll be on my way to the snack stand."

Wyatt folded his arms over his chest and smiled at Sara.

The girl rolled her eyes. "No, nothing to say at all, Sir."

"Okay then." The history teacher turned to Ryan. "Don't keep that ice on too long. Twenty minutes tops, ok, Champ? Good. All right. Any one needs me, I'll be stuffing my face with pizza."

"You all made a very wise decision," Wyatt commented as Mr. Allen's stout frame disappeared out the gym doors. "Just remember that in the future, Molly Vettle is under my protection. You mess with her, and you're messing with me, and we _will_ have issues."

Amber, from her position next to her date, nodded. "That goes for me too."

Suddenly, a part of Wyatt's mind felt empty. A presence that normally pervaded every moment of his life, even if it sometimes only felt like a dull feeling of a memory forgotten, a presence as calming to Wyatt as a security blanket, vanished.

Something had happened to Chris.

Without bothering to come up with an excuse, without acknowledging anyone, the young man tore out of the gym, slamming the doors in his race to find somewhere private to orb out from. The bathroom being closest, the teenager skidded to a stop in front of the doors, pushing back the door and racing inside.

A gothic looking boy getting a drink from the fountain smiled and shook his head. "Guess he had the chili fries too."

000

Molly felt herself flying. Only it wasn't quite the same. It was as if only her mind existed, and it was floating through a bright white light. Her thoughts were fuzzy in this non-place, confused. However, as confused as she was about what was happening to her, she found she was calm. As though the warmth of the sun was permeating her skin and entering into her very being, giving her a peace like that of dreamless sleep. Unfortunately, the serene moment was just that, a moment. It ended in the time it would have taken a person to clap.

When the white light faded, Molly found herself in entirely new surroundings. It appeared to be someone's home– a conservatory to be precise. It was lovely, a white love seat was underneath a lovely Victorian style windows. A table in front of the love seat was covered with magazines and books, and in the chair on the left hand side of the table, sat one Piper Halliwell.

Piper glanced up from her romance novel as she heard the sound of orb lights. As she saw who it was that appeared in them, her eyebrows show up. "Oh no."

"Mrs. Halliwell-Wyatt?" Molly glanced around nervously. "What's going on? How did I get here?"

The matriarch sighed and put her book down on the table as she rose to her feet. "Come here, Sweetie. Why don't you sit down and tell me what the last thing you remember is."

Molly, too shocked and scared to protest let the older woman guide her into the seat. She shook her head, her thoughts still jumbled. "I...there was...there was a lunatic with a crossbow,

then a couple more people just...just appeared. Just poof, there they were. Like magic."

Piper laughed nervously, "Magic...riiight."

The girl didn't notice. "They took us somewhere, but then Chris raised his hand and the next thing I know I'm here." She frowned shaking her head. "That doesn't make any sense. None of this makes any sense."

Piper put a hand on her shoulder sympathetically. "Unfortunately, it actually makes more sense than you'd think."

"What do you mean?"

"Oh boy. Well, you see. . ."

At that moment, Phoebe and Paige walked into the room carrying cups of tea and laughing about something they had been talking about in the kitchen. Phoebe noticed the new arrival first and frowned. "Aren't you supposed to be at the dance? Where's Chris?"

Paige pulled a face, "Oh man, did demons attack the prom?"

Phoebe slapped her sister in the arm while Piper glared.

"Demons?" Molly asked. "Is that how Chris...did that thing with the light?"

"We're not demons," Paige responded hotly. "We're witches."

"Paige," Piper admonished. "What is the matter with you?"

The youngest witch shrugged. "Please, she obviously orbed in here. It's not like we can just make her forget everything she already saw. Besides, it'll help us find Chris if she knows exactly what we're dealing with here." She turned to the teenager, "We're good witches with real magic powers and we save people. The guys who attacked you were..."

"Darklighter and a couple warlocks," Piper supplied reluctantly.

"Exactly," Paige finished. "But you have nothing to worry about because we've handled situations like this a thousand times before. More probably."

Phoebe's eyes grew wide, "Wait a minute, a darklighter? Was Chris shot?"

"I'm not sure. It all happened so fast."

"What all happened so fast?" Leo asked, trotting down the stairs and heading over to the group. He noticed Molly sitting in the chair looking shocked to her core. He turned to Piper, "Demons?"

"Yup."

"Oh, that's too bad. The kids deserved a good time."

Phoebe cut in, "Piper, weren't you guys attacked earlier today? Before the boys went to pick up their dates?"

"Yeah, Wyatt got a pretty nasty bruise from the fight."

Molly muttered, "A shelf, huh."

"Well," the middle sister continued, "seems to me that somebody was targeting Chris for some reason."

Paige smirked, "Like demons need a reason."

Leo noticed Molly's discomfort and moved to her side, "Hey, do you want some toast? It always helps me settle down, and maybe it'll help you too. I'll sit with you and keep you company too if you'd like."

Molly nodded and rose to her feet with his help, letting him guide her into the kitchen.

Meanwhile, a new set of orb lights appeared coalescing into Wyatt's frantic form. "I lost Chris."

"Lost him?" Paige remarked. "What is he, your puppy?"

Pheobe rolled her eyes and moved to comfort her nephew. "Sweetie, it's not your fault. Obviously someone in the underworld is gunning for Chris, and we'll just have to find out who and take them out. Don't worry. He'll be fine."

"I'm not sure about that," Piper argued. "If he got hit by a darklighter arrow, we don't have much time. Wyatt, you can't sense him?"

Wyatt shook his head. "No. Something's cut us off."

"Then he was hit," Piper reasoned. "He's probably unconscious somewhere in the underworld."

"It has to be that," her son agreed. "Our connection gets weak when one of us is down there and the other isn't. If he was unconscious too...well, it'd make sensing him impossible."

"Wait, so if you were down there too, do you think you could pick up on him?" Phoebe asked.

"Maybe."

"Maybe might have to do at this point," the eldest put in. She turned to her sisters, "You guys go and get some potions ready just in case."

Wyatt ran a hand through his hair, watching as his aunts disappeared in a swirl of lights. He turned to his mother. "I should have sensed something was wrong sooner."

"Wyatt..."

"– I mean it. I'm his big brother. I'm supposed to protect him, just like you've told me for as long as I can remember. I failed tonight. I didn't notice when he was in trouble."

Piper put her petite hand on her son's cheek. "You aren't omniscient. Besides, your brother's almost an adult. He can usually take care of himself just fine without any help. He's strong, smart and determined just like his aunt Prue was during her life. He'll be okay."

"Yeah, but Aunt Prue..."

"Not Chris."

Wyatt shook his head, "Mom, we have to find him. I can't deal if something happens to him."

Piper pulled her son into an embrace, "You won't have to worry about that. We will find your brother. I promise."

000

"So...they're like angels then?"

Leo nodded, "For the most part. Only whitelighters take care of good witches and future whitelighters."

"And that's what I am or will be?"

"Right, which means that you have a very special destiny ahead of you. You're going to be a great person, helping others. It's a real honor, Molly, and it says a lot about who you are in your heart."

Molly took another bite of her toast. Swallowing, "So, Wyatt is mine?"

"Right."

"And he has to do whatever it takes to make sure I follow my destiny?"

"It's his job to make sure you are safe and that nothing interferes with the life you were meant to lead– like the darklighters we already talked about."

Molly nodded, setting her toast on her plate and pushing it away.

Leo frowned, noticing a change in the girl. Before she had been confused and upset, but now she almost seemed sad. It wasn't the normal response to hearing about magic. Panic, fear, anger, awe– those were normal responses. Sorrow didn't make sense. "Molly?"

"Can someone take me home, please?"

"I don't think that's a good idea. Not until we stop these demons first. Just in case they were after you and not Chris."

Wyatt came into the kitchen just then. "Molly, are you all right?"

The young woman looked down at her plate. "Fine."

The Twice Blessed shot a look at his father, but the older man merely shrugged, not sure what had set the girl off. Perhaps it was just the situation.

"Well, mom, the aunts and I are going down to the underworld to rescue Chris, you two will be okay while we're gone, right?"

Leo smiled, "Of course we will. You just be careful, okay?"

"I will." He looked to Molly, "It'll be okay, Molly. I promise."

As Wyatt exited to join his mother and aunts, Leo could have sworn he saw a tear run down Molly's face.

Tbc...

I think this is the first chapter I've ever written that didn't have Chris...I feel weird. He'll be back big time for the rest of it though!


	8. One Last Dance

**Chapter 30**

**One Last Dance **

Molly glanced up from her half eaten toast to look at Leo, whom she could feel staring at her from across the table. She swallowed the pang of betrayal that seemed lodged in her throat since the discovery of Wyatt's (and Chris') obligation to befriend her as her whitelighter. As her hazel eyes reached the sea green of the man, the teenager saw the pity within them, and couldn't bear to hold his gaze. Her eyes dropped to her plate, and she clumsily grabbed the glass of water in front of her, taking a sip.

"Molly, have I upset you in some way?" Leo questioned, genuine concern marking his features. "If I have, I'd really like to talk about it, so I can make it right again."

The young woman's eyes remained on the now cold toast. "May I use your restroom?"

With a disappointed sigh, the man nodded his head and leaned back in his chair. "Of course. It's upstairs, first door on your left."

Molly pushed her chair back and slowly rose to her feet, consciously avoiding looking at her host. When she reached the kitchen door, her footsteps quickened toward the stairwell. She wanted nothing more than to be alone, and the faster she could find solitude the better. Her sobs wouldn't hold much longer.

Racing up the stairs, the young woman was so upset that Leo's directions slipped her mind, and she hurried into the first door on the right. She turned to shut to the door behind and then closed her eyes, sliding down it as hot, salty tears slipped through her eyelashes, erasing the last bit of mascara she had left on them.

"Molly?"

Startled, the girl visibly jumped, opening her eyes to find that she was not in fact in the bathroom at all. Rather, she found herself in what was clearly a teenage boy's bedroom. Wyatt's room apparently as he was the one standing over her right now.

The young man moved to squat down in front of her, his eyes trying to catch hold of hers, and failing. "Molly, hey, it's all right. Everything will be fine. The aunts and I will find Chris. You don't need to worry. I would never let anything happen to him. Or you."

For some reason his words sparked a flame inside her stomach, which affected her mouth before her brain could quiet it. "Because you're my whitelighter, right?"

The harsh disdain in her tone brought Wyatt's brows together in confusion. "Well, that's part of it…"

A derisive snort was the reply.

"Molly, what's going on? I feel like I'm in a play and don't know my lines. You seem really ticked off about something, but I really don't know what."

The young woman wiped her eyes clear of tears and rose to her feet, moving away from him to until she had put the bed between them. She folded her arms over her chest as her blood became intoxicated with indignation. "You don't know why? Did you honestly think I would be so desperate for attention that your treatment of me like a charity case wouldn't piss me off? Or do you think I'm so stupid as to not put two and two together? Your dad told me what a whitelighter is all about. How they guide their charges and do whatever it takes to make sure they are safe and on the right path. He told me that you were supposed to help me get my confidence back because it was keeping me from my destiny."

Wyatt's cheeks flushed at the accusation. "Molly, that's not it. I mean, it started out that way, but I really do think you're a good person, and I really do want to be friends with you. That part has nothing to do with you being my charge. I swear."

"And Chris?" Molly challenged. "Did you bribe him? Pay him to take the fat girl to prom and make her believe…" the young girl bit her lip, new tears growing from the reminder of what hurt the most. She couldn't even finish voicing the ugly thought.

The Twice Blessed shook his head, shocked to the core that Molly honestly thought everything about the evening had been a trick or obligation. He bridged the gap between them. "Molly, I swear to you on my life that it wasn't like that. I asked Chris to take you because I thought it would make you feel better to have a nice date. That was my only agenda. It may seem like charity or pity to you, but none of that really even crossed my mind. As for Chris," Wyatt took her shoulders then, "I've never seen him look at anyone the way he looks at you, and that's the truth. He doesn't play games; he is what he is—take him or leave him. Believe me or not, Molly, but you've gotten under his skin big time."

When the girl didn't respond, Wyatt let out a breath and removed his hands from her shoulders. "Listen, I feel awful that you're upset, but I don't have time for any more talking right now. We've got to get to Chris. Just, try to think about what I've said, okay?"

Molly gave a small nod.

Wyatt smiled then reached over onto the desk to grab a leather necklace with a celtic medallion. After pocketing the necklace, he headed out of the room and up the attic stairs. When his aunt Phoebe looked up from the book of Shadows, he held up the necklace for inspection. "Think this will work?"

Phoebe squinted trying to see what her nephew was holding. "Is that the triquetra necklace Chris got from Leo on his birthday?"

"Yeah. I figure since he wears it almost everyday it would work as the focus object."

Paige nodded, "Should. It's got a lot of emotional energy, so Pheebs should be able to channel Chris from it."

Piper put her hands on her hips. "Well, is that everything then?"

Paige held up a brown cloth bag, "Potions are ready."

"And with the necklace Wyatt and I should be able to focus on Chris and find him."

Piper took her baby sister's hand and motioned for her other sister to take her son's. "Come on then. I want to get my son home where he belongs."

Paige looked to Wyatt, "You know where to meet up?"

"Yup, the place we vanquished the Nightmare demon last month."

The female witchlighter and the matriarch of the family went up in a swirl of blue and white lights.

As Wyatt started to follow, he felt someone grab hold of his left arm, which was strange considering his Aunt already was holding on to his right arm…

000

Chris shivered as internal cold wracked his body. He found it ironic that despite the sleep inducing cold that was claiming his bones, his brow was still covered in beads of sweat. He imagined it had something to do with the pain, which was only being made worse by his captor's less than hospitable treatment.

The elderly warlock, whose name Chris had learned was Malcolm, was enjoying himself immensely by burning the young man's flesh, holding a fiery palm to his skin until the area became one large, angry welt. Once this had been done, the warlock would then prod the painful area with his athame until his prisoner cried out.

At the moment, the other younger warlock was setting up a trap. When he had finished he turned to his companion and let out a breath. "This is almost too easy."

"But still enjoyable," the other replied, rising from his place next to the witch in order to land a solid kick to the boy's ribs.

Chris gasped for air as he heard a sickening crack, and felt every ounce of breath in his lungs vanish at once. He struggled to take in more air, the effort made even more difficult by his weakened condition. The poison was slowly but surely making its way through his system, dulling his mind and causing each violent ministration by his captor to feel a thousand times more agonizing.

"Not so cocky now, are we? I think I've made it clear who is the superior being here."

The young witch forced his glazed over eyes to rise and meet his enemy dead on. His voice was strained and raspy, but the power behind the words was not lost. "If you're so sure of that, untie my hands and then see what happens."

"When will you learn to keep a clever tongue, boy?" Malcolm snarled. He reached behind him into the fire pit and pulled out the poker, jabbing it into one of the witch's open wounds.

Screaming in primal pain, Chris lurched back in his place on the floor, tears springing to his eyes despite himself. When at last the demon pulled the instrument away, the witch swallowed shakily and lowered his head to the ground, unable to gather the strength to keep it up.

"Better," Malcolm muttered.

The other warlock grinned, "I smell witches."

Malcolm gestured to his partner. "Move the boy into position."

As Chris was dragged into the center of the room by the other demon, Malcolm blinked out of the area. As soon as their hostage was in place, the other followed suit and disappeared.

Orb lights illuminated the cavern, forming into Piper and Paige. The two, seeing the state their loved one was in, hurried to his still form, fearful that they had made it too late. Just as they got within a foot of the unconscious teen, a light erupted from above them. The two witches looked up to find a strange symbol on ceiling, glowing.

Paige decided to ignore it for the moment, focusing her attention on her nephew, raising her hands above him and watching as the golden glow spread from her palms to cover him in healing warmth. She let out a breath of relief as every wound closed and disappeared until at last, the teen's eyelashes fluttered, revealing two bright jade eyes.

"Aunt Paige?"

"We're here kiddo."

Chris slowly rose to his feet aided by his aunt. Once up and steady, he turned to his mother, who seemed to run up against an invisible force and was, with a zap, propelled to the ground. He stooped to help her up, "You okay, mom?"

Piper brushed the dust off herself. "What the hell was _that_?"

Two forms appeared: Malcolm and his partner. Malcolm smirked at his three prisoners. "An ancient symbol of dark magic designed by the old seer to trap all good magic. And don't even think about using your telekinesis to break it boy. It's immune to magic. In fact, no good magic can actually get anywhere near it without an electric shock running through their bodies, so you can forget about being rescued too."

"I always hated that seer," Paige bitterly remarked. "but you've got to admit-- she was good."

Jingles filled the air, heavenly light swirling into the cavern to form into the other set of rescuers.

"Molly?" Chris questioned.

Wyatt turned toward his stowaway and glared. "You shouldn't be here."

"But she is," Malcolm commented, "and now she'll die.

Phoebe rolled her eyes, "You guys really need a new line."

Tossing her blinding potion at the warlock's feet, she could have cursed when he blinked out upon its release from her hand. The potion fell uselessly against the ground, while simultaneously, Malcolm reappeared behind her, grabbing her from behind and turning his hand into solid lava, slowly moving it toward her face.

Wyatt took action, telekinetically tossing the warlock from his aunt, while then dodging an attack from the other side by the second warlock, who nearly cut off Wyatt's ear with his athame.

Free from Malcolm, Phoebe turned on her attacker, attuning herself into his emotions in order to use his own power against him. Her hands burned with molten heat as she grappled with Malcolm.

Molly ran over to the prisoners. She paused in front of Chris, taking in the sight of him for a moment. "Are you okay?"

"You shouldn't have come. It's you they're after."

"I don't care," the young woman replied. "I'm not going to play the part of the victim anymore. Especially not when my boyfriend is at the mercy of magical monsters who could be doing who knows what to him."

Chris grinned, "Your boyfriend?"

Molly blushed and shrugged, "Well, I mean…"

"I like the sound of that," Chris cut in, his heart- melting smile spreading all the way into his soft green eyes.

Piper put her hands to her heart, her eyes watering at the sight as her own soft smile grew.

"Oh good grief," Paige remarked. "Could we please do the sappy moments _after_ we aren't trapped in the underworld?"

"What's trapping you?"

"That," Chris pointed up. "You have to break that symbol."

Molly looked up and frowned, "It's at least ten feet high. I can't reach that, and even if I could, how do I break it?"

Piper reached into her coat pocket and pulled out a pen, offering it to Molly.

"A pen?" Paige questioned.

"Well, if the symbol is what makes the trap, then ruining it should break the magic."

Chris shrugged, "Drawing a line through the symbol should be as good as erasing it."

Paige shook her head, "I can't believe that a Sharpie is saving the day."

The male witchlighter grinned when he noticed the cog's in Molly's brain ticking away trying to figure out how she was supposed to reach the mark on the ceiling. Without warning her, he slowly used his telekinesis to lift her off the ground. He smiled as her eyes grew wider and wider in wonder as she saw her feet now five feet off the ground. Chris gave a little bow of the head to let her know it was by his doing, then gestured for her to get to work on the trap.

Meanwhile, Phoebe gave a hiss of pain as Malcolm's fiery fist caught her chin. Anger filling her, strengthening her power, she ducked underneath another of his attacks in order to land a solid jab into his right eye, effectively blinding the eye permenantly by searing the retina. As the warlock cried out in agony, Phoebe landed a roundhouse kick to his head, propelling him to the ground,where she finished him off with a vanquishing potion that sent him to hell with whirwind of flames and smoke.

Wyatt had meanwhile managed to pin his warlock against the cavern wall with his powers. "Why are you after Molly?"

"She's wanted dead," he choked out. "Price on her head too good to pass up."

"I want you to send a message to your superiors," Wyatt ordered, his tone changing to one of dark authority, "tell whoever sent you that Wyatt Halliwell, the Twice Blessed Witch himself is her personal protector, and that Molly Vettle is officially under Halliwell protection. Anyone comes near her, they will have declared war with us, and we all know how that always ends up, don't we?"

He released the warlock from his hold, and watched as the man hurriedly blinked out. Wyatt then turned to the section of his family trapped in the cage just in time to see his mother cautiously test the boundary with her hand to see if the invisible barrier had been broken through Molly's labors. Her hand passed through without any problem. "Oh thank God."

Paige moved over to heal Phoebe's burn.

"I'm getting too old for this," Phoebe lamented, rubbing her shoulder, which had developed a kink from the fight.

"Yeah, Pheebs, you're ancient," her little sister teased.

Piper noticed her youngest son having a quiet, private moment with his lady friend and subtly moved away from the two toward her sisters. "I think we should get out of here before more come. What do you say?"

"Here, here," Phoebe agreed.

"All aboard the Paige express, then."

Piper looked over at Wyatt, "You'll make sure they get home okay?"

"Of course."

Piper and Phoebe took hold of their sister's hands and the trio disappeared from the cavern.

"Looks like Molly saved the day," Wyatt commented with a smile as he saw the pride in her face.

"Looks like," Chris agreed, wrapping an arm around the girl's waist and pulling her against him. "You know, not many girlfriends would have hitchhiked a ride with my brother to come save me from the underworld." He whispered into her ear, "I think you might be a keeper."

Molly laughed even though her cheeks still turned bright pink when he used the term, girlfriend. She didn't care though. Her face could turn purple in front of a crowd of thousands, and she wouldn't care. She'd found someone to care about her. Someone who saw her for who she was and not what she looked like.

Wyatt, observing the two, let a proud smile grace his lips at the sight of his brother letting someone in. "That's my boy."

tbc. . .


	9. Happily Ever After

Thanks a million to those who read this and double that for those who reviewed to let me know what they liked/didn't. I appreciate all of your support in either form. :)

AN: Poem is by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

CHAPTER 9

Happily Ever After

It was the morning of April 25, 2020. For some, this date represented yet another tedious Monday, another week of work, and worst of all, another four days until the weekend. For Molly Vettle, today represented a new beginning to her life. Today was the day she became the heroine of her own story rather than the damsel in distress.

Her experience the Saturday before had changed her forever. No longer did she feel like an outsider and a freak, but rather saw herself as an intrinsic part of a universal plan. As small and unimportant as she had always felt before, Molly now saw herself as a woman with a destiny and purpose. No matter what hurtful words people tossed in her direction, the young woman knew without a doubt that she was meant to use her life helping others, and her path in life was something so empowering that nothing and no one could keep her from it.

It was for this reason that there was a lightness in her step as Molly reached her locker just as the first bell for lunch rang through the hallways of the highschool. She smiled to herself as she opened up her locker to find a note had been stuffed through the slots and had fallen on top of her Honors Chemistry book.

"Hey, you," a familiar voice broke into her thoughts.

Molly stooped to pick up the note before turning to her friend. "Hey Bryan."

"Hey Bryan? That's all you have to say to me?"

The young woman was barely paying attention, her hazel eyes too busy scanning over the note she had found. She laughed softly at something within the message.

The brown eyed boy folded his arms over his chest. "Hey, earth to Molly. Remember me? Bryan? The guy who has been your friend since forever?"

"I said, hello," Molly reiterated. "What do you need?"

Bryan rolled his eyes. "Details. Details, Woman. I get to the prom to discover that you've not only managed to get a date, but that it happens to be with your true love's kid brother. I went looking for you, but then couldn't find you. Where'd you get off to?"

"Chris and I went for a walk," Molly smoothly lied, using the line the Halliwell boys had come up with for her. "It was too stuffy in the gym."

"So," Bryan went on, "It has a name. Chris. How come I've never heard of this guy before? If he's Wyatt's brother how come he isn't Mr. Popularity Jr.? What's he like? He treat you well? If not I swear, Wyatt Halliwell's brother or no, I'll kick the shit out of him."

"He was perfect. Really. No need to get all big brother on me."

Bryan narrowed his eyes, "You're all glowy. Why are you all glowy?" Noticing the note, "Wait a minute...is that from him?"

Molly's eyes widened, and she moved the note behind her back. "So, how was Sara Tomson?"

"Dull as dirt. Now, show me the note."

"What note?"

"Molly, come on. I saw it already. You always end up telling me everything anyway, so might as well just show me."

Just as Molly was about to protest, arguing how it was a private letter meant only for her eyes, it was snatched from her hand from behind by a pair of perfectly manicured hands.

"Sara Burnheart," Bryan commented. "Give that back to her. It's none of your business."'

"Oh, but the people want to know," the woman maliciously countered, opening the note and turning to her group of friends. She laughed as her eyes scanned the page. "Oh my god. How cliche. How I love thee? Let me count the ways? Gag me. Listen to this:

Molly,

I've never really done this sort of thing before, but I hear that girls find poetry romantic. I'm no poet myself, but I think this one should at least bring a smile to your face and let you know I'm thinking of you.

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.  
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height  
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight  
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.  
I love thee to the level of everyday's  
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.  
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;  
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.  
I love thee with the passion put to use  
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.  
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose  
With my lost saints,—I love thee with the breath,Smiles, tears, of all my life! and, if God choose,  
I shall but love thee better after death.

— E.B.B.

Bryan's head whipped around to face his friend, who to his surprise, was not blushing with embarrassment but seemed livid instead.

"What kind of a pathetic loser would write you a love poem?" Sara commented, gesturing with the hand that held the purloined letter.

Just as her hand went up, the letter was ripped from her finger tips. The group turned around to find one blond teen with blue jeans and a green dress shirt and one brunet in black jeans and a hooded sweatshirt with the unfamiliar name "Fall Out Boy" on it standing behind them. The brunet's clear green eyes were focused on Sara. "This kind of pathetic loser."

"Chris? Wyatt?"

Wyatt folded his arms over his chest, glowering down at the girl. "You were saying about my kid brother?"

"Nothing at all about Chris here," Sara practically cooed. She slipped her hand onto Chris' chest, batting her long lashes up at him. "I've been meaning to talk to you, Baby. I just had a great time on our last date...I figured maybe this time we could go somewhere a little more quiet and," she lowered her voice suggestively, "private."

"Get. Your. Skanky. Hands. Off," Molly growled.

Wyatt nodded in approval and shared a satisfied look with his sibling. Both remained silent though.

Sara, taken back by the sudden assertiveness in the other girl, let her eyebrows fly up. "Excuse you?"

"No, excuse you," Molly countered. "You're ridiculous. When are you going to grow up? You could never get a guy of Chris' caliber, Sara. Not because you aren't gorgeous. No one can deny that. It's how ugly you _act_ that makes people repulsed by you. I may be overweight, but you know what? I can change if I want to. You? You're always going to be a horrible little person that has to make other people feel smaller in order to cure your own insecurities. Now, get your pathetic loser hands off _my_ boyfriend before I remove them for you."

Sara's wide eyes looked for support from her group of friends only to find that no one would look her in the face. She found herself gazing up into Chris' face as a last resort.

Chris smirked. "Sorry, Sara. I'm off the market."

The brunet moved away from the teen queen to take a position next to Molly, his arm slipping around her shoulders as he helped her stare down her nemesis, who could only stumble backwards away from the sight of them together.

Wyatt addressed Sara pointedly, "I'd say congratulations are in order, wouldn't you?"

"Con...congratulations," she mumbled, stumbling away.

Jenny, one of Sara's friends rolled her eyes, "Well thank god somebody finally told her off."

"Mhmm," Her boyfriend Tony agreed.

Byran scrunched up his face, "Waaait a minute. If you didn't agree with her, how come you went along with her?"

"She's the team captain, and I needed a cheerleading scholarship to get into college," Jenny remarked. "And Tony was keeping his mouth shut for my sake. Most people only follow her through fear of what she'll do to them. But year's over and we're finally free."

Wyatt rolled his eyes, "Sounds like an excuse to me. You were always free to make your own choices. You chose to be cowards."

Jenny lowered her eyes, "I guess I can't blame you for that one. It's true."

Tony added, "Sorry. And sorry about what happened at the dance, Molly. I do swear that if I would've known she was going to do that, I wouldn't have let it happen."

"Me either," his girlfriend joined in. "That was totally uncalled for. For the record, I think you looked amazing. You and Chris make a beautiful couple. She's just jealous."

Molly smiled shyly. "Thanks. That means a lot."

As the rest of Sara's group dissipated, Chris looked down into Molly's eyes and grinned. "Wow, that was impressive. I bet they're going to have a lot to talk about. You worried?"

His girlfriend shook her head, her plait swinging against her back. "Nope. Someone told me not to care what other people think, so that's just what I'm going to do: not care."

"Ok, you two are giving me a toothache," Wyatt commented. He patted his brother on the back, "I'll see you after seventh period?"

"Yeah."

Wyatt raised an eyebrow, "Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

"Yeah, yeah."

The twice blessed tossed one more smile in Molly's direction, gave a nod of acknowledgment to Bryan and then, with hands stuffed into his pockets, sauntered off down the hallway toward the aroma of fresh baked pizza.

Bryan raised an eyebrow. "Whoa, hold on just one second. You. Me. Talk. Now."

Chris' eyebrows rose significantly at the demanding tone. "There something you want to say to me?"

"Yeah, there is," Bryan stepped forward, his chest puffed out. "What are your intentions with Molly."

Chris shot a look to the young lady in question. "Is he serious?"

"Better humor him."

The witchlighter returned his focus to the angry youth before him. "My intentions are purely selfish. I want to spend as much time with Molly as humanly possible simply because she's one of the only people I feel I can be myself around. I want to make her smile because it makes me happy. I want to hear her laugh because it's better than anything I can hear on my MP12 player. Most of all? I want to treat her like she deserves to be treated in hopes that I can somehow make her see that I'm worthy of her affection because between you and me, I don't think anyone on this planet is actually good enough for her, but I've got to try because like I said, I'm selfish."

Bryan's eyebrows shot up, and he looked to Molly, "Wow. He's smooth...be careful around this one."

"I've noticed."

Chris donned a look of mock offence. "Hey, I'll have you know that it's not my fault I'm good with the lines...my mother was a hopeless romantic. And my father..." he shrugged, "you could say he was an angel."

Molly laughed, unable to help herself.

Bryan ran a hand through his hair, gave one more look at his new improved friend and extended a hand to her new beau. "Put her there, Man. Seems like you might just come close to being good enough for this amazing person."

The two teens shook hand, both smiling at the other. Brian pulled away first and lifted a warning finger, "But, I swear, you make her cry even once, and I will hunt you down. Got it?"

"Got it," Chris replied with a chuckle.

Bryan nodded, satisfied. "Okay, then. I'm grabbing food. You two love birds coming?"

Molly nodded, "In a second. There's something I want to show Chris first."

"I see how it is. You know I have abandonment issues."

The young woman moved forward, wrapping her arms around his neck and giving him a kiss on the cheek. At the same time whispering, "What do you really think?"

He pulled her into a hug, replying just as softly, "I'm so happy for you."

Bryan slowly released his childhood friend from his arms and nodded to Chris before taking off down the hallway toward the cafeteria.

Molly then excitedly turned to Chris, taking his hand and pulling him down to the hall of the building where the art classes were held. She stopped in front of one of the doors and gestured for him to wait a moment.

While Chris stood outside, he couldn't help but grin at her excitement. Whatever it was must have been something she was pretty proud of making.

Molly returned a moment later with something in her hand. "Okay, so we were working with clay today, and I was hit with inspiration, and made this and I really hope you like it..."

Unfolding her hand, Molly revealed a medallion made of sleek black clay, and painted with artistic precision dead in the center was a silver triquetra. The craftsman ship of the piece was exquisite and it had obviously taken quite a bit of concentration and skill on her part to make it so smooth and even.

Chris smiled softly, letting his finger run over the smooth surface lightly. He looked up into Molly's eyes and found that not for the first time in her presence, he was speechless. So, instead of using words to show his appreciation, he bent down and landed a sweet, gentle kiss on her lips, softly caressing them with his own.

When he reluctantly pulled away, he placed his forehead gently against hers and let out a contented breath. "Wow."

"You know, if the teachers catch us we'll be in trouble."

"You're worth it."

Molly grinned. "Here's to not caring what people think," and without warning, pulled Chris back down to her level, smiling at his shocked look as they shared another kiss, which both were certain would be just one of many, many more in their long and happy future together.

The End


End file.
